During the process of building their own 6502 CPU-based home-brew computer project, Arduino forum member "mkl0815" needed an EEPROM programmer to program those pesky EPROMs ans EEPROMs to move the project forward. Instead of buying his own unit, it was relatively easy to make his own based around an Arduino-compatible and some 74HC595 shift registers. Not only can the device read and write the chips, it can also split and burn large images across two or more EEPROMs, and is controlled by a nifty Java-based interface. With a little work you could fit all of this nicely on an Arduino protoshield.

For more information and discussion, visit the Arduino forum - and the design files can be found here. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

If you're looking for a small Arduino-compatible board to use with your projects, check out our LeoStick. It's the Arduino Leonardo-compatible board that's cheaper and smaller than the original:

Apart from being one of the smallest Arduino-compatibles on the market with USB, it also has an onboard RGB LED and piezo which can be used a knock sensor and various tune and sound effects. Plus you can add extra circuitry with the matching protostick! For more information and to order, click here.